Untitled
by EchoSerenade
Summary: Sequel to "Point of Emaciation." Clara and Josh are trying to settle back into their lives, but with their recent past still haunting them, they struggle to grasp on to reality. (Summary will most likely change) OC/Josh
1. Chapter 1

**Warning** **: As per usual, this will most likely have triggering scenarios. Read at your own discretion.**

 **Disclaimer** **: I do not own Until Dawn**

* * *

 **CHAPTER ONE**

"Mm…" She rolled to her side and smiled when her eyes set on the peacefully sleeping man beside her. She brushed her fingers down the side of his cheek and kissed him. He didn't even stir.

He was such a heavy sleeper.

Clara wiggled closer until she was tucked under his chin. He smelled nice – none of that sweat and motor oil that he always end up with at the end of the day.

He groaned and nuzzled the top of her head, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist. "Clara…?"

"Good morning, handsome," she whispered with a smile.

Josh mumbled something incoherent before falling silent once more.

She chuckled and closed her eyes.

Since getting off the mountain and purchasing the rather luxurious house, she never wanted to take anything for granted. At any given time, this could all be ripped away from her. She could lose everything. She could lose Josh.

Just as she was being lulled back to sleep by his deep, even breathing, she felt a bit of sickness flush through her. She frantically pried away from his arms and rushed to the bathroom. Her stomach churned painfully as she coughed up everything.

She laid her forehead against the edge of the cold, porcelain seat. What was wrong with her?

"Clara, you okay?" Josh was groggily rubbing his eyes and draped sleepily atop of her.

She moaned and tried to push him off, but he was clinging like a monkey. "Josh, get off…"

"No." He held on tighter and promptly began to fall asleep on her. Literally on her.

Clara quickly reached over to flush the toilet. She shifted so that his warm body was more comfortably positioned around her. Something about him had always made her feel better. She smiled and ran her fingers through his thick, dark hair.

Suddenly, she was swept up and bouncing in his arms. Another wave of nausea hit her. "Josh!" she shrieked before she was thrown on to the bed.

"That's my name, beautiful." He left a trail of butterfly kisses down her neck. "You know, we have a couple of hours before your appointment." He grinned at her. "I know a few things we could do in the mean time."

Despite just emptying her stomach, she laughed before pushing him off. "Not today, lover boy." She placed a kiss on his lips. "My first visitation with Morrison. He wanted some extra time for a new set of paperwork. Apparently, the ones from Dr. Hill weren't 'relevant' anymore." She was annoyed that the new shrink was basically going to dismiss everything that Dr. Hill had done for her. What did he even know? All Morrison had done was read a few pages of her profile and now he thought he could _help_ her.

"Do you need me to come with?" He kissed her shoulder as she changed.

She shook her head. "I'll be alright. Go deal with your… stuff." It was still difficult for her to even think of his family. There was just far too much bad connotations with them.

Josh frowned at her down expression. "I can always tell them – "

"No!" she loudly cut him off before trying to reel her emotions back in. "Just go, okay?"

He looked hurt as he continued to watch her with wide, round eyes. It was no secret how much she hated his parents and for them to want to see him right on this day when she needed him must've stung more than usual. "Clara…"

"I'm sorry, but I can do this," she told him. "I'm a big girl." She twirled around in his arms and pulled him closer for a kiss. "Besides, if I need you, I can always call, right? There are actual cell towers here, you know?"

Despite what she told him, she was nervous about the session and wanted nothing more than for him to be with her, but she had to do this alone.

When she walked into the office, she could feel the judging eyes on her. The receptionist was middle-aged with a sneer on her face. The two people sitting in the lobby were whispering quietly to themselves while sending looks her way. None of them were particularly discreet.

Clara quietly took the clipboard from the receptionist and found a seat in a corner, away from the leering eyes.

Question one: Her name – first and family.

Question two: Her birthday – day, month, year.

Question three: Her sex – male or female.

Question four: Her address.

She put the clipboard down. How were these questions going to help her? This was everything that Dr. Hill probably already gave them. Why were these people wasting her time?

With a deep breath, she continued. Her writing slowly became illegible scribbles.

" _Josh, I have a question… Why were there only bones left of the Stranger's body?"_

"Ms. Rose? Dr. Morrison will see you, now." The receptionist extended her hand for the form, which Clara promptly handed over. "Right this way." The heels clacked loudly on the well-polished floor. The sound was like a hammer pounding in Clara's head.

The door to the doctor's office was already opened. She walked in and looked at the man who was frantically writing. He was much younger than Dr. Hill. His brown hair was still free of any signs of age. He must've been in his mid-thirties.

By the time she was done scrutinising him, he had stopped writing to look patiently back at her. "Please, take a seat." His voice was a low rumble. It was unpleasant to her ears. "May I call you Clara?"

"That's fine." How he addressed her really didn't matter.

"Now, I know this will be hard, but I want to skip all the introductions and start with what happened at Blackwood Pines, is that okay?" He looked at her like a reporter about to get the meat of his article. It was as if he was going to interrogate her. She didn't need someone like that in her life. She didn't need this imposter of a shrink who was making no effort to even feign consideration.

Like the cop, he wasn't going to believe her, either. Morrison would probably get her committed. She couldn't imagine being left with only her thoughts and without Josh.

"Clara?" He looked expectantly at her.

"There's nothing I have to say to you regarding the matter," she told him.

Morrison leaned back with a frown on his face. "I've spoken to your friends. They had some interesting stories to tell. A couple described you in a way that leads me to believe you had a psychotic breakdown."

Her face darkened.

He immediately jotted down notes. "Are you currently taking any medication?"

She rolled the bottle of pills in her pocket before deftly placing it on the table. It was the anti-depressants that she brought to the lodge.

Morrison looked at it quickly before setting it back down. "Did you know that these are expired?"

She shrugged. "I searched online and people said it's alright to take them. I don't exactly have a lot of money to fling away when I have a perfectly good batch."

"You shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet," he chastised. "These anti-depressants will lose effectiveness over time." He leaned back. "I want you to have an analysis done. I want to know what is appropriate for you. You'll probably have to switch medications."

She scowled at his words, but didn't refute them. It was probably for the best, especially since she was staying with Josh. It'd be devastating if she lost control, again. She was too emotionally invested in him, now.

He quickly scribbled down a prescription for her and informed her of the pharmacy just downstairs to the right of the entrance. "I've written just a couple of medication that you had been using for now. We'll end it here for today. I want to see you again next week."

Clara was relieved to finally be outside. The breeze in her face was a distraction that she definitely needed. She really wasn't looking forward to being diagnosed, again. Rather, she was afraid to hear what the good doctor had to say.

She took her phone out and contemplated calling Josh, but she didn't want anything to do with his family or riling them up. Eventually, she opted to take a walk at a nearby park. Not a lot of people were out despite the clear weather. It was far too cold.

Spotting an unoccupied swing set, she sat down, gently pushing off with her feet. It had been a very long time since she had been on something like this. In fact, she couldn't quite recall the last time she was at a park like this.

She didn't know how long she had been there, watching the occasional dog walker go by, but a sudden shadow looming over her made her stop the swaying and look up to a worried face.

"Clara!" he panted, beads of sweat trailing down the sides of his face. "Why didn't you answer your phone? I've been looking everywhere for you!"

She gave him a bewildered look before pulling out her phone. The screen remained black when she pressed on a button. "Sorry, it's out of battery."

He sighed and plopped down on to the swing beside her. "How did it go with the doc?"

"I'm going to have to go back to see him next week." She looked down at the gravel. A small cloud of dust formed where she was kicking it. "What about you?"

He shot her a noncommittal shrug. "Dad wasn't home, not surprising there. Mom was just being mom." He didn't go into detail about the discussion they had. He didn't need her to worry more than necessary about his family and he knew how hard she was trying to overlook the past. No matter how many times he told her that none of it was her fault, he knew she didn't believe him.

As she was lost in thought, a wicked grin spread across his face. He stealthily slipped behind her and gave her back a big push.

A surprised shriek filled the air as she clung fretfully to the metal chains. " _JOSH!_ "

He gave her another push when it came back down.

"Stop it!" she screamed, catching the attention of several dog walkers.

All he could do was chuckle. When he thought that she'd finally had enough, he tugged at one of the chains, causing it to swing haphazardly from side to side. He laughed at her cries before steadying the swing and caught her in a kiss when her body hit his.

"Mm…" she hummed happily. "You're not getting off the hook that easily, Casanova."

He grinned back. "I await my punishment, mi'lady."

…

When they finally decided to leave the park, it was already dark. They walked down the street, hand in hand, wondering where to eat since neither could be bothered to cook at this time.

"Come on." She tugged his hand to a small, cozy restaurant.

The hostess was immediately in front of them, leading the couple to a quiet corner.

"You know, we _could_ always skip dinner and go straight to dessert." He slid a hand up her thigh.

She was looking particularly ravishing today, or had she always been like that? Whenever she was around, he couldn't keep his hands and eyes to himself. When she was away, all he could think about was what she was doing.

He felt himself harden and tried to calm himself down, but before he could stop himself, he had pulled her chair to him and had her in his arms. "Clara…" His words came out as a growl. He gave her ear a tiny nibble as she squirmed around. Her face was flushed red.

"Public place with people watching!" she hissed at him as best as she could, but her breath came out in pants. "Look! Someone's coming to take our order!"

She tried desperately to fix the chair and herself before they were kicked out of here. What she couldn't mend, however, was how deeply she was blushing.

"May I take your order?"

She mumbled something she remembered seeing on the menu while he chatted with the waiter for the recommendations. When he finally decided on what to eat, she was already regretting not taking his offer to skip dinner. It felt as if there were eyes boring a hole behind her head. The whispers from the other patrons were filled with slander.

"Hey, I was only kidding. You okay?" She looked up to see Josh looking back at her with concern.

She nodded in reply. "Just tired."

He reluctantly accepted the answer and began to rant about his day before ending it with what he planned to do with her. He could tell that maybe he had gone too far earlier. She was quiet and fidgety. He'd have to make it up to her later.

Once the food arrived, she heartily dug in. The juicy steak was extra juicy. She usually went for medium rare, but a sudden craving had her go a little more adventurous. The flesh was smooth and soft. It was simply heavenly.

"Taste good?" He wondered why he hadn't ordered the same thing when the dish came out. It made his mouth water just watching her dig into her plate. Why did he choose today of all days to be healthy? Must've been the rant from his mother.

She licked her lips before looking at him. "Absolutely delicious." She cut another small cube out and was about to place it into her mouth when she noticed a relentless set of eyes staring at her – or more importantly, what was on the fork.

With a teasing smile, she gave the juicy flesh a small lick, moaning quietly when the slightly salty sauce hit her tongue.

Josh watched her with wide eyes. He swallowed hard and tried to calm his thoughts and the rush of blood that was slowly making a permanent home in his lower region. Who knew watching a woman eat steak could be so arousing?

Loving the effect she had on him, she finally decided to grant him mercy and held the cubed meat in front of his watering mouth. "Would you like a taste?"

His eyes looked at her, wandered to the fork waving in the air, before snapping back to her lips. Instead of making a fool of himself more than he already had, he opened his mouth and she placed it on the tip of his tongue.

Clara grinned as he groaned at the delectable taste. This was a pretty good payback for earlier.

By the time they were ready to leave, her meal was done, while Josh left most of his untouched. He quickly paid for the meals before half-dragging her out.

She laughed at his eagerness, stumbling behind his larger strides. "Josh, slow down!"

He stopped and pulled her into a hard kiss. "No time; better hurry."

Giggling the entire way down the street, they abruptly stopped as they bumped into someone.

"Sorry!" a bubbly female voice apologised quickly. "Oh…"

They stood staring at each other in shock.

Clara knew that she hadn't seen the last of them at the lodge, but she never thought it'd have been so soon.

"Josh, y –you're alive." Wide green eyes were staring at him in shock, but it was the taller figure beside her that made his blood boil.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

 **HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!**

I can't believe it's been a year since I finished the first story! I'm very sorry for the long wait, but I do plan to finish this second part.

What's coming will, of course, all be original content. I'm not exactly sure how everything is going to go, yet, but it's going to be dark and maybe a little confusing.

I currently don't have a title, but I'm hoping to go with the theme of "Point of (Insert single word)." I will be taking all suggestions into consideration.

Also, did anyone dress up? If so, what did you dress up as? I went as Slytherin Hermione!


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

"Oh, my God!"

Clara watched with great satisfaction as Mike stumbled back in pain, clutching his bleeding nose. Sam was by his side, trying to make sure that he was alright.

"Why did you do that?!" The blonde was completely shocked.

"He left us for dead!" Josh exclaimed. "You all did!"

"We didn't' know, Josh!" Sam exclaimed. "We… We all thought they'd gotten you two. We wouldn't have left you, you know that, Josh."

"Oh, do I?" he retorted. "Did he tell you how I met up with him after getting out of the cave? I _told_ him that Clara and I were coming. I _told_ that _mother fuckin' bastard!_ "

Sam looked alarm, almost accusingly at Mike who was still quietly cursing at the pain. "Is he telling the truth? Mike, did you see Josh?"

The dark-haired man stared at her for a moment before averting his eyes. "Yea, but that was before we blew up the lodge! I thought they were dead with how many of those things coming in."

"So you couldn't just wait ten minutes in the comfort of the helicopter? You couldn't even tell the others to rescue us? Or perhaps just _look_ for us?" Clara hissed.

"How the Hell am I supposed to know if you two fucking lunatics weren't going to try to kill the people who were finally going to get us out of that Hell hole?!" Mike spat back, giving Josh a push. "D'you know how much fucking therapy we had to go through?"

"Welcome to our life," Clara deadpanned. She placed a hand on Josh's arm when she noticed how he was about to take another hit on Mike. Sam seemed to be doing the same with her friend.

"We should talk about this. Are you guys free tomorrow?" Sam asked, looking hopefully at the other two. "There's a café – "

"I'm not talking to either of you, motherfuckers," Josh growled before wrenching himself away from Clara's hand and storming off.

Sam looked sadly at his retreating form. She, then, turned to the redhead who was about to follow. "Please, I don't want to lose a friend," she begged.

Clara shot her a dry look. "I think it's a bit too late for that, don't you? The two of you actually seemed to be doing pretty well _before_ you found out you haven't lost us as much as you though." She leaned in a little closer, her eyes glinting dangerously. With a low voice, she added, "I'll kill you if you hurt him." And she was going to make good of that promise.

With a turn of her heels, she was gone, leaving two baffled and slightly frightened people behind.

It had always been a suspicion of hers that Mike wouldn't tell anyone that they were still alive. As much as Sam irked her, it was for a completely different reason. T he blonde had a crush on Josh and although she was hurt by the prank, she seemed to have more integrity than that. Sam was someone Clara would read in a novel – a perfect character with perfect traits. At least, that's what she thought at the lodge. It was one of those things that she had been so jealous of. Except now, there was a haunted look in those pale green eyes.

Clara could see that the happiness she used to portray no long reflect in Sam's eye, but Clara still envied her. She had so many years of living a carefree life. Even Mike didn't have the tumultuous childhood that she had to live through, yet he was complaining about _therapy sessions_?

When she found Josh, he was kicking around some bins in an alley. She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Let's not think about them anymore," she whispered.

"They just make me so mad!" he growled, but he had ceased his actions. " _Fuck!_ "

She ran a hand down his arm and placed a kiss on his neck. "Let's go home. You mentioned something about dessert?"

No one was going to hurt them, again. _**EVER**_ **.**

…

Clara sighed happily. The day's event had nearly disappeared from her mind – nearly, but it was a start. No medication worked as well as a night with Josh.

She left a trail of kisses on his chest before murmuring, "I love you."

He kissed her head. "I love you, too."

That night, Clara dreamt of being back in the lodge. There was snow everywhere, even inside the, once, cozy, wooden cabin.

 _"J-Josh?" she called out, shivering violently as the cold seem to pierce through her skin and straight to her bones. "Josh, where are you?"_

 _There was no reply._

 _There was no one there._

 _She found the wall and groped blindly for something – anything. "Josh?!"_

 _As she continued to make her way forward, the wooden walls became rough and jagged. The floor was uneven with long cracks. The snow made room for darkness._

 _It was so, so dark._

 _Screeeeeeech!_

 _Her heart raced. No! She had escaped! She couldn't be here, again!_

 _She abandoned the wall and ran haphazardly down the tunnel. She had to get out of here. She had to!_

 _Screeeeeeech!_

 _The cries drew closer and closer no matter how fast she ran. Tears streamed down her face. She was never going to see him, again. She was going to die alone and afraid in a fucking mine shaft where no one was ever going to find her decomposing body._

 _Screeeeeech!_

 _She chanced a quick glance behind her, but the blanket of darkness was too thick for her to see anything. She turned back around and willed her legs to go faster._

 _Screeeeeech!_

 _She let out a horrified scream as the creature jumped down in front of her. Wispy red hair was still attached to the thing's balding head._

 _It snarled at her before wrapping its long, bony fingers around her head. The last thing she saw were two milky eyes._

Josh was jolted awake by her terrified scream. For a split second, he thought one of those things had found them

Finding his girlfriend screaming as if she was possessed may have been even worse. She was thrashing violently. Her fingers found its way across his cheek, leaving a blood trail behind.

"Clara! Clara, wake up!"

When her eyes snapped open, her scream continued to pierce through the room. It was as if she was still trapped in the nightmare.

"Clara! Come on, you're scaring me!" He'd never seen her like this before. Sure, she'd often have nightmares, but it had never been this bad.

Slowly, her eyes began to gain focus. "Jo – " She never got to finish before she tipped her head over the side of the bed and lost her last meal on the floor.

When she was done, she felt as if she was dying inside.

Josh looked worriedly at her. "Hey, maybe you should go see the doctor. You haven't been looking okay since we came back…"

She began to shake her head, but stopped when the motion only made her feel worse. "I'm okay, Josh!" Seeing his hurt expression, she gave him a peck on the cheek. "They're only nightmares from when we were… there. It's just hard to forget something like that."

Josh wasn't sure what to do to help her. He knew that those creatures would haunt him too, sometimes, but what was happening to her was actually terrifying. Deep inside, he wondered if she could possibly be… _changing_. The thought made his heart sink. It would be his fault if anything happened to her. Why did he ever think that it was a good idea to pull that prank on them? It was what got his sisters killed in the first place. Not only that, Clara hadn't even been there that year.

"Josh, hold me?" she whispered when she noticed his troubled expression being illuminated by the soft moon glow.

His arms were immediately around her in a warm, comforting embrace.

She sighed before falling back into a fitful sleep.

 _Ring. Ring._

She groaned

 _Ring. Ring._

"Hello…?" Josh's groggy voice reached her ears as he picked up the phone. "Who is this…?"

Clara cuddled up closer to him until she was tucked underneath his chin. As she was relaxing against him, she suddenly felt his body stiffen.

"Why the fuck are you calling me?"

She looked up at his enraged face.

"DO you think it'd be alright?" he growled. "You left Clara and me up there for twenty-three fuckin' days!"

"I didn't know!" came a familiar voice on the other end.

"Yeah? You never wondered where your best friend went? Did your little bitch already make you forget me?" He had never felt as upset or betrayed by someone.

"Hey, don't talk about Ashley like that!"

Clara sidled up and whispered comforting words into his other ear.

"Then maybe you shouldn't have fuckin' called me!" with that, he hung up and resisted the urge to throw his phone across the room.

Even with Mike, he hadn't been as angry. Josh had always known that the playboy was a selfish bastard, but he had known Chris for a while now. They were best buddies… or so he thought. Whatever happened to bros before hoes? This teaches him to try to set them up together.

He clenched his jaw and tried to keep himself from exploding in front of his girlfriend. The soft strokes of her fingers through his hair was definitely helping him. He looked down at her worried frown and wondered how he got so lucky.

Sure, she tried to kill him once, but he _had_ been a bit of a douche bag to her and he knew his father had stepped on many toes in his lifetime. He also knew what it was like to lose control of himself. It wasn't as simple as someone telling you to stop and everything would be okay. T he sheer force of the compulsion would literally take over the entire mind.

"Chris is a good guy," she murmured. "You should go talk to him."

"Not after what he did to us," he huffed.

"Josh…" Her tone made him grimace. 'I haven't known him as long as you have, but he doesn't seem like the type of person to leave you to die."

"No? He didn't have any trouble leaving me in the shack."

She flinched. She, too, had done just that. She even tried to directly kill him, but here they were – completely vulnerable and not even a drop of blood was shed… usually. "Please, Josh. Talk to him. I want you to go out more and start enjoying life, again."

"Don't think I've really done that for a while now." At her glare, he sighed. "Fine, but you're coming with me."

…

Josh was bouncing his right leg as they sat, waiting in the quiet café. The scent of rich coffee was enough to fuel his adrenaline. If it hadn't been for Clara's insistence, he'd be happy never having to face them, again. Alright, that wasn't exactly true. He _did_ kind of miss spending time with his partner in crime. They were the dynamic duo at school. It was like missing an arm without his pal.

A warm hand touched his knee. Clara was smiling softly at him. "It's going to be okay."

Before he could reply, a tall blond man walked in with a reluctant brunette behind him. They stood awkwardly in front of the table.

"H-hey, buddy," Chris gulped. To be honest, he had been absolutely devastated when Josh wasn't with them on the helicopter. Even Sam was protesting, but Mike had told them what happened. Josh and Clara were taken while they were trying to escape the mine. With the risk of another Wendigo prowling the mountain and finding them, they couldn't send out a search team.

With a heavy heart, he watched as the helicopter ascended. Just a minute in the air, he thought he heard something, but when he looked back, there were only trees and the dark, billowing smoke.

Now, he knew that he had left his best friend to die on the mountains. It only made him feel worse. What kind of friend was he?

"I'm really sorry, man," he apologised when Josh continued to avoid his gaze.

Ashley clenched her hand tightly around Chris. She hadn't wanted them to come here, but Chris was too much of a good guy, sometimes. He had gotten a call from Sam and then decided to do something stupid like this.

"What do I have to do to prove myself to you?"

When Josh continued to ignore him, Ashley had had enough. "Why are you even acting like such an asshole?" she hissed. "If you hadn't wanted to play that stupid prank on us, none of that would've even happened! We wouldn't have to go to all through all that stupid shit!"

Clara narrowed her eyes and stood up. "If _you_ hadn't played a stupid prank, two innocent young women wouldn't be dead. His sisters! I would've been a little more vindictive than just try to push you to get together with the man you have a crush on!"

"Well, you're a psycho bitch!"

Josh had also stood up at this point. This had all been a terrible idea.

"Alright, girls," Chris tried to defuse the argument. He could feel burning stares from the other patrons. The manager seemed to be walking towards them. "Let's take this elsewhere before we get kicked out."

Josh threw a few dollars on to the table, grabbed Clara's hand, and stormed away. Chris shouldn't have brought Ashley. Although she seemed to be a sweet girl, there were instances where he questioned her integrity. She hadn't seem that remorseful after his sisters went missing. There was even a time when her only defense was that Jessica was the one at fault and all she did was watch. What a two-faced lying bitch!

"Josh – ! Josh, I'm sorry," Clara apologised. "I didn't mean to get into a fight with her, but what she said just made me so angry." She hadn't wanted any of this to happen.

He abruptly stopped, causing her to bump into him. "It's not your fault," he mumbled. "I'm not angry with you. I'm angry at her for causing a rift between me and Chris."

Clara laid her forehead on his back. "I shouldn't have forced you to do this."

They strolled into a park and sat down on the bench where the breeze tried to sweep away the lingering frustration. She rest her head on his shoulder. "Josh, I love you."

His heart skipped a beat. It was rare for her to say it first. "'Love you, too." But lately, it's been more often. He kissed the crown of her head. If no one else, at least he had her.

"Josh! Josh!"

They both looked up to see Chris jogging over. Beads of sweat rolled down the side of his face. Missing was the brunette by his side. "Hey, man. I'm really sorry," he huffed in front of them. "I thought Ash would be with me on this. I don't blame you for what happened. No one could've known about the Wendigo. I understand if you feel like it's their fault and I'm not saying they had nothing to do about it…" He trailed off once he noticed that he was rambling. "I mean… I want my friend back."

Josh let out a deep breath. "I want to be friends, too, man." A small smile was on his uncertain face. He _really_ missed him.

Clara watched the two awkwardly stare at each other. "Go, hug it out."

Normally, she was sure that there would be protests, but not today.

…

They laid in bed, comfortable snuggled against each other. "I'm glad the two of you are friends, again. Out of all of them, I probably like him best."

"Should I be worried?" He shot her a teasing grin.

She returned it with a question, "Should you?"

He growled and nibbled at her ear. "If you promise to talk to someone about your nightmares, I'll show you again how _not_ worried I am."

His fingers caressed a sensitive part of her. "Not fair," she whimpered.

"Well…?"

She quivered under each brush and stroke. The words left her lips as she begged.

"Good girl."

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Sorry, this story is really going slow… B-but… HAPPY HOLIDAYS! And please, forgive me?

Thank you guests ( **Jess** and **Toolazytologin** ) for reviewing!

 **Jess** : I'm so glad you like this story! I hope this one turns out okay… I'm not feeling too confident right now…

 **Toolazytologin** : Teehee… It's alright if you don't want to log in. I'm so happy that you took the time to leave a review!

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story!

I'll try my best to work on it!


	3. Interlude

**INTERLUDE**

"I'll take these ones." He grinned widely at me, dropping a stack of CDs on to the counter. His dark eyes were sparkling with child-like innocence. "I love her songs. They're my favourite. I think they're on sale."

I looked at the woman smiling softly on the cover. These CDs had been on sale shortly after they were released and were left to collect dust with no one to buy them. I scanned the barcode and slid the item to the side.

"I really love her," he said, laughing loudly. "I already have a few copies, but I need more." He took the scanned case and held it against his chest, smiling dreamily with his eyes closed.

I scanned the next one and the next one. They were all the same. "That'll be thirty-nine forty," I told him, watching him playing with the shrink wrap, completely oblivious to anything around him as he hummed a song from the album. I waited a moment, allowing him to enjoy himself.

When he opened his eyes again, he turned to the lineup behind him. "Have you heard of her?" He got right up to the closest woman's face who smiled uncomfortably back at him. "She's the best. I'd give you a copy, but I need these. You can get them over there."

I bit my lips when I felt the first tremours hit me. Blinking furiously, I continued to watch as he went down the line, announcing his delight to anyone who would listen.

Over the years, I had watched him descend. The daily medication used to help and he had always greeted me with a small smile whenever he came by to pick them up. Sometimes, he'd visit just to see me and wait until I was on my break where we both grabbed a coffee next door. It wasn't long before it became a ritual for us and it was obvious to everyone at work that we were dating.

...

"Josh," I gently called out to him. "Josh, did you want these?"

He turned to me with a wide grin. "Yeah!" He immediately turned back to the other customers who all looked disturbed by his obnoxiously loud voice. Some had left, waiting just outside of the glass doors, glancing nervously at him.

"Why don't we pay for these first?" I waved one of the CDs, hoping that it would capture his attention long enough to finish the transaction and help him out of the pharmacy before the crowd accumulate anymore.

"Okay!" He walked back over to me, leaning on the counter. His body extended forward and his face was a mere foot away. "Are these on sale?"

I nodded. "Yes. Your total is thirty-nine forty," I told him, again.

He laughed as if I had said something funny and turned his head to the lineup again. Everyone else had turned away, hoping that he wouldn't engage them into another awkward conversation. "Can you believe the deal? I should get some more. She's my favourite. Feels like she's singing to me."

I swallowed. "C-cash?" I asked, spotting the bills he had clutched in his fists.

"Huh?" He looked at me confused as if he had only just realised that I was speaking to him.

"Would you like to pay with cash?" I managed to say in the steadiest voice I could muster.

"Oh, yeah!" He threw down the money, looking at them as if he was trying to decipher how much to give me.

At the moment, I believed that there could no one else who would understand how I felt. After everything we went through. It was the internal battles that I couldn't help him with. The fight had started before I met him and I hadn't realised until it was too late. By then, we had some of the happiest days together, but it was never going to be enough. He lost himself in his head, talking to his sister; talking to strangers and assuming they were people he knew; talking to me as if I wasn't really there - as if I had died on the mountains all those years ago.

It didn't take much to snap him out of it at first. He'd come back to me with a touch or a kiss, but that quickly became ineffective. Even then, I was alright with it because I knew he was still physically with me.

And then, one morning, I woke up and he was gone. He was gone in the afternoon, he was gone in the evening, he was gone for the days to come. I contacted everyone he knew. I even called _them_.

Mike recognised my voice and immediately hung up, but Sam called back to ask what was wrong. I was frantic and the words came out in a jumble. She understood enough of it to tell me that she hadn't seen him since our last meeting together. That had been nearly a year ago.

My next call was to Chris who became as concerned as I was. We met up and searched around the entire town, but we didn't so much as catch a glimpse of him anywhere. It didn't help that his parents were impossible to contact. There was really no one else to turn to.

For months I was left wondering where he had gone and whether he was even still alive. I couldn't wrap my head around how I had just lost my baby and now I was losing the love of my life. Hadn't it been bad enough that I went through all that supernatural _shit_? What more did they want from me? What more could I possibly lose?

It wasn't until Dr. Hill called me one early morning, saying that he found Josh wandering the parking lot, did I finally breathe easy.

I rushed over immediately. My heart broke as I saw him pacing and muttering to himself. Every once in a while, he'd shout into the air. "You can't take her away from me!" In another moment, he'd be on his knees, crying. "I love her… I'm so sorry, Clara… I didn't mean to kill you…"

After that, I rushed to him and held him in my arms, but no matter what I said to him, he wasn't there. He was murmuring his sorrowful goodbyes. With Dr. Hill's help, we moved him into his office, away from prying eyes and nosy ears.

By that time, Josh had been off his medication for too long. Dr. Hill had prescribed him a list of new drugs and I helped fill it at the pharmacy I had volunteered at. It was a trial period with both Dr. Morrison and Dr. Hill vouching for me. If I did well enough, they were going to hire me for real. I was getting close to the end of my probationary period.

When they think I wasn't listening, I could hear my coworkers murmuring behind my back, wondering about Josh and I. They knew that the both of us were crazy. It wasn't something I was going to deny. I just wanted them to be upfront about it instead of pretending that I didn't have ears. Couldn't they have at least waited until I was on my break?

...

"Clara?" My heart skipped a beat, seeing his eyes stare into mine with concern. As quickly as it appeared, the clarity disappeared again and he was playing around with the notes on the counter.

"Here, I'll help you." I counted the money in front of him and gave him the correct change. After handing the bag of CDs to him, he beamed at me. "Take care, okay? Go straight home."

"Okay!" He nodded his head, holding the bag close to him and began to engage the other customers as soon as he turned around. They all stepped away from him, but he wasn't detoured. He spoke to anyone and everyone until he was out of the story and I heard a very audible collection of sighs when he was gone.

None of the customers said anything about him, but I could tell by the way they looked at me that they were judging him for things he couldn't control. It wasn't his fault how things turned out. Fate was cruel.

Once my shift was over, I grabbed his medication and hurried home. The music was loud enough to disturb the neighbours, but they were used to it. They knew who lived here and no one wanted to make Bob Washington their enemy here. His reputation preceded him. And although he was never present, they didn't need to know how negligent he was of his remaining child. It also helped that word had spread that Josh was a bit of a psychopath. I suspected Ashley or Mike, but who knows?

"Josh?" I called out, hoping that he was still alright. Every day was stressful. After finding him with his wrists slit wide open, once, I was always terrified to one day come home to his dead body.

This time, I spotted him on the couch with his eyes closed and a smile on his face. His head was swaying to the melody. On his chest was the copy of the CD that was booming from the old stereo.

"Josh…" I sat beside him, stroking his face gently.

He opened his eyes and smiled dreamily at me. He picked up the album and stared fondly at the picture. "I love her," he told me, again.

"I know…" I whispered, looking down at myself staring back at me. No, I had been looking at him during the photo shoot. I had been thinking of him when I smiled. I had been dreaming of him when I sang. He was my inspiration for everything and even though no one else would ever understand it, it was enough that he did.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

This is heavily inspired by what I experienced in person, but not so much on a very personal level and although I didn't know the person that well, it pained me so much that I really wanted to just break down and cry. I'm not going to go into specifics with this. I just had to get it out.

Whether you want to take this as foreshadowing for what may or may not happen in the future is up to you. I know I haven't been updating regularly on this story and I really wanted to, but the inspiration really hadn't hit until this point. Even then, the chapters for this story are much shorter than what I usually write. I hope you guys don't mind.

I also do plan to continue this story, so please be patient with me. I will try to get more chapters out, soon.

 _I'm also in need of a title for this story, so I'm completely open for suggestions._

Thank you **MyNameIsMordecai, HerOverYonder, orianawtf** , guest ( **Lurker** ) for reviewing!

 **MyNameIsMordecai** : Sorry it's been so long since the last update! I'll try my best to put up another chapter, soon. Thank you so much for reviewing!

 **Lurker** : I'm glad you've enjoyed the story, so far. I was really hoping that no one expected the twist to happen! There will most likely be a twist in this too… Maybe? I don't know. I like my twists. I just haven't figured out this one quite yet.

 **HerOverYonder** : This is a slower adventure to my AHS once, but it'll trudge on!

 **orianawtf** : Everyone survived in my story… Kind of? In the happy ending, everyone survives, which leads to this story. In the alternate ending, Clara dies and Josh turns into a Wendigo. In a way, I actually hate Ashley more than Emily and Jess, just because she tries to be that demure maiden, but she hadn't bat an eyelash telling Mike to kill Emily. She's very subtle in her manipulation, while Emily is very outspoken and Jess is just… naively mean? I actually felt really bad for her ever since she woke up in the mines.

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story.

Please leave a review if you enjoyed this story, so far and I'll try my best to get back to you as soon as possible.


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